How can God be everywhere?

“I think God can be everywhere because he can look at everybody from the sky,” says Kate.

“God has angels everywhere to help him be everywhere,” says Emilee, 8.

Friends, I believe you’re trying to confine God to the space of his creation. Instead, imagine dipping a cup in the ocean. Let the water in the cup represent the entire universe. Now, compare the water inside the cup to all the water in the ocean. In a feeble way, this illustrates how small the universe is compared to how big God is.

Some people believe they are expressing the immensity or hugeness of God by saying what Chad, 10, says: “God is everywhere because he is everything.”

Philosophers call this pantheism. Some see pantheism as a polite form of atheism because it sacrifices the idea of a personal God. Pantheism is a fancy way of limiting God because it reduces God to the space of this universe.

Chad, you would be wise to talk to Shelby, 7: “God can be everywhere because he is bigger than the world.” Katy, 8, says, “God is spirit.” Kudos to Shelby and Katy! You may be only 7 and 8, but you’ve expressed God’s immensity more eloquently than many theologians.

Nevertheless, here’s a theologian who had some insight. “All the spaces in the world do not exhaust the immensity of God,” wrote theologian Leonardus Riissenius.

Although God transcends time and space in that he’s over and above his creation, he’s able to act within the created universe to accomplish his purposes. Similarly, authors are above and be-yond their books, yet they reach into their stories to shape plots and characters.

Because we’re confined to time and space, it’s hard for us to imagine someone who isn’t. As Owen, 9, says, “God can be everywhere because, well, he’s God.” Or as Jake puts it, “God can be everywhere because he is God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit and big!”

Jake, I don’t know if any of the first-century apostles would express it that way, but I think you’re making the same point as Owen: God is God. He’s different from us just as wood and metal are different. Refining metal will not produce wood, nor will amplifying the best qualities in people produce God.

It’s a good thing God is everywhere because “God knows everyone needs him,” says Morgan, 10. “He is powerful, and he loves us, so he always wants to be around us all the time,” says Katherine, 10.

“God loves you and watches over you,” adds Colton, 7. Also, “he wants to be close to us,” says Bethany, 7.

God’s desire to be close to us went so far that he entered the world in the form of a man. For 33 years, Jesus Christ experienced the limitations of time and space so that he could die for the sins of the world and rise again to conquer death. Transcendent God was manifest in a human body. The Apostle Paul calls the incarnation “the mystery of godliness.”

Though we don’t fully understand this mystery, it’s plain that it’s astonishing news. “God can be everywhere because he is a wonderful God!” concludes Brooke, 9. And who could disagree with that?

Think about this: Wherever you are, God is always present.

Memorize this truth: “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved” (Psalm 16:8).

Ask this question: Are you aware of God’s presence?

“Kids Talk About God” is written and distributed by Carey Kinsolving. To access free, online “Kids Color Me Bible” books, “Mission Explorers” videos, a new children’s musical, and all columns in a Bible Lesson Archive, visit www.KidsTalkAboutGod.org. To read journey-of-faith feature stories written by Carey Kinsolving, visit www.FaithProfiles.org.